259 Aletheia

259 Aletheia
Discovery
Discovered by C. H. F. Peters
Discovery date June 28, 1886
Designations
Named after
 Aletheia
1947 LD
Main belt
Orbital characteristics
Epoch 30 January 2005 (JD 2453400.5)
Aphelion 526.86 Gm (3.522 AU)
Perihelion 412.767 Gm (2.759 AU)
469.814 Gm (3.141 AU)
Eccentricity 0.121
2032.78 d (5.57 a)
16.81 km/s
116.287°
Inclination 10.815°
87.151°
168.896°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 190.05 ± 6.82[1] km
Mass (7.79 ± 0.43) × 1018[1] kg
Mean density
 2.16 ± 0.26[1] g/cm3
15 h
Albedo 0.043
Spectral type
 CP
7.76

    259 Aletheia is a very large main-belt asteroid that was discovered by C. H. F. Peters on June 28, 1886, in Clinton, New York. It is named after the Greek goddess Aletheia.[2] This asteroid is composed of primitive carbonaceous materials and is very dark in colour, darker than coal.

    Richard P. Binzel and Schelte Bus further added to the knowledge about this asteroid in a lightwave survey published in 2003. This project was known as Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey, Phase II or SMASSII, which built on a previous survey of the main-belt asteroids. The visible-wavelength (0.435-0.925 micrometre) spectra data was gathered between August 1993 and March 1999.[3][4]

    Lightcurve data has also been recorded by observers at the Antelope Hill Observatory, which has been designated as an official observatory by the Minor Planet Center.[5]

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Carry, B. (December 2012), "Density of asteroids", Planetary and Space Science 73: 98–118, arXiv:1203.4336, Bibcode:2012P&SS...73...98C, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2012.03.009. See Table 1.
    2. ↑ Schmadel Lutz D. Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (fifth edition), Springer, 2003. ISBN 3-540-00238-3.
    3. ↑ Bus, S., Binzel, R. P. Small Main-belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey, Phase II. EAR-A-I0028-4-SBN0001/SMASSII-V1.0. NASA Planetary Data System, 2003.
    4. ↑ JPL Small-Body Database Browser
    5. ↑ Lightcurve Results

    External links